CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PNA) – The 7,500 metric tons of industrial garbage that were dumped in the Misamis Oriental town of Tagoloan have all been shipped back to its place of origin in South Korea after two years, a Bureau of Customs (BOC) official said, calling it a "victory for Filipinos".
In a statement Friday, BOC Region 10 District Collector John Simon said the shipment of the last batch of garbage on September 15 was a way of sending a message to other countries that the Philippines was not a dumping site of their wastes.
Simon also called on other countries to comply with the International Agreement on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste and Their Disposal, otherwise known as the Basel Agreement, to prevent environmental crimes.
A final report provided Friday by Engr. Angelo Andrade, BOC-10 information focal person, indicated that the tons of garbage – misdeclared as "plastic synthetic flakes" – were shipped within a period of nine months, beginning on January 13 this year, in seven batches.
"Re-exporting more than 364 containers back to Pyongtaek, South Korea has not been an easy task for the Philippine government as this shipment when apprehended in October 2018 has already entered in Philippine territory in July 2018. The Korean smugglers who were responsible (allegedly) used powerful connections in both public and private sectors to accomplish their (alleged) crime," Andrade said in the report.
Andrade also noted that volunteer-citizens had to shell out close to P10 million to re-export the trash that entailed the repacking, fumigating 324 containers, and purchasing 20,000 tonner bags, as well as the hauling and transporting of the containers to the docking area.
"In order to fast track the re-exportation several groups volunteered their expertise, resources and technology to mechanize the procedure. The Philippine Sinter Corporation which designed and constructed the steel funnel and ramp to accelerate the bagging and hauling of the waste. The Department of Public Works and Highways lend their heavy equipment and operators to assist in the hauling process," Andrade said.
Simon acknowledged the assistance of private groups in returning the garbage to South Korea.
“I am proud that in the end we had triumphed over all their difficulties despite our shortcomings, so we expect the Korean government will extend more effort in fighting environmental crime in the Asia-Pacific region,” he said.
Charges were filed against Korean nationals Chul Soo Chu alias Charles Cho, Jae Ryong Cho, and Sena Na for violation of Republic Act 6969 or Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Waste Control Act including violation of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.
The suspects remain at-large.
According to BOC-10, the South Korean trash was the biggest volume of smuggled waste that was seized in the Philippines, which became the first country in Southeast Asia to successfully re-export garbage back to its origin.